The Bet of a Lifetime
by cranesilk155
Summary: Mikan joined a game and was confident to win it, but she miscalculated things. Now, she made a bet that she needed to fulfill and another turn on her life started.NxM
1. The Game

**A/N:** Whew! This is my second GA fanfic!! Thank you for all those who read and reviewed my first GA fic, **Undying Warmth**. Well, this is just my default chapter, finding out what people will actually think about this fic. Enjoy reading!

**Disclaimer:** I **don't** own Gakuen Alice. This fan fiction is just made by my imagination and any familiar incidents regarding the reader's personal experience are just pure coincidence.

**Brief Clarifications**: The class is in their last year of high school in the academy. The setting is of course at the school, three months before high school graduation. Mikan and co. will be in the range of ages 17-18 yrs. old. After graduating, students will be allowed to go out of the academy to pursue their own dreams and live a normal life.

**Chapter 1: The Game**

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Sticky beads of sweats had been pouring endlessly in Mikan's forehead every second. With her tongue slightly sticking out on one corner of her mouth, she eyed intently the first item of her homework. The noisy scratching of pen to the paper was heard as she made her pathetic attempts in solving the problem. Then, she began tapping the table using her pen.

_Tap._

_Tap._

_Tap._

"Kyaaaa!!!" She blew some air to her hand and glared at Natsume.

"Why the hell did you do that?!" She yelled, pointing at her pen, now burned into ashes.

"Quit tapping that thing on your table. It's annoying." He replied without lifting his sight off his manga.

"Natsume, she's just concentrating!" Ruka defended.

"Isn't that supposed to be homework? Why are you doing it only today?" Natsume lazily laid his feet on his desk.

"I fall asleep by the time my back hit my bed." She explained. "Hey! That's the third pen you burned, Natsume!" Mikan was currently talking to a manga covering Natsume's face.

_Baka baka baka _

"Quit whining will ya? Here, Invention no. 0039, fire proof pen with a microchip I programmed to quickly process any math problems and it has built-in wires that can send impulses from the microchip to your brain. The fire proof one is limited edition and costs 5,000 rabbits." Hotaru explained in a monotonously to the audience with her trademark stick in her hand.

"Thanks Hotaruuuuu!!" Mikan was about to hug her best friend when another batch of baka bullets hit her forehead.

"You owe me 5000 rabbits." She flatly and went back to her previous work.

Natsume rolled his eyes from the view. _It must be difficult to be so dumb,_ he thought, considering that he just answered those particular problems in merely three minutes last night.

Mikan was amazed with the new pen Hotaru gave her. _This is incredible! _She let out a smile when the answers on her homework just flashed inside her mind and effortlessly wrote down the solutions to every problem.

"Done!" She raised her paper merrily and mentally praised her handiwork.

She finished her homework just in time. Mr. Narumi entered the classroom with his usual cool aura and cheerfully greeted his teenaged students.

"Ohayou!" He said as he entered the classroom. The students hastily ran towards their own seats and settled themselves properly.

"Ohayou, Narumi-sensei!" They replied as soon as they have properly seated.

"Pass you homework." The students reached out for their bags to get their particular papers. Natsume passed his paper to Mikan who was seated in front of him. She accepted it and started comparing their answers. She was satisfied seeing that their answers where the same.

Natsume glared and was obviously pissed off when he saw Mikan looking at his paper. He stood up and rudely grabbed his paper from Mikan and gave it personally to Mr. Narumi.

_Bad day eh? _Mr. Narumi tilted his head when he accepted Natsume's paper.

"Hey! Wait for my paper!" Mikan saw that the papers owned by persons ahead of her was in her teacher's hand already so she just ran towards him but clumsily bumped to a person when she made her way.

"Itai…" She rubbed her sore butt and looked at her tormentor.

"Get up there rubber duckies. You're blocking my way." Natsume, hands tucked inside his pockets, glared at the person who was practically rubbing her sore butt below him, giving him a nice view of her undergarments.

"Pervert!" She got up to her feet and hid a blush when she saw that the whole class was wide eyed staring at her undies and her heated conversation with the notorious Natsume Hyuuga.

"Who would want to see that disgusting underwear of yours, baka?" Mikan glared at him.

Natsume continued walking towards his seat while Mikan did the same after giving her homework to her teacher.

"Now, now students… Proceed to the subject." Mr. Narumi said.

"We had just finished a whole chapter of our lesson. So this time, we're gonna have a game." He continued. The class cheered.

"Dodge ball!" Mochu shouted.

"Hai!" The class cheered.

"Basketball!" Another one shouted.

"No! Tag!"

"No! Volleyball!"

"Sooccccceerrrrrrr!!"

"Baseballllllllllll!!!"

Mr. Narumi sweat dropped as the class simultaneously shouted to one another.

"We were playing a game about Basic Calculus!!" He happily said, his voice overpowering the students'. The cheering subsided the moment he said the name of the game.

"Oh! This sure is gonna be boriiinnnggg…" Sumire fiddled a curl in her hair as she rolled her eyes.

"This is gonna be exciting. I'll be sure of it. Okay, so here it goes. One must represent the boys and one for the girls. These two will compete in behalf of their group. And the exciting part is this…" Mr. Narumi made a background sound of a suspense music using his own voice.

"You must have a bet. You know, like conditions from the two players." He continued.

The class sweat dropped. _Since when did this subject become exciting?_

"Okay! I need volunteers! Anyone from the boys? From the girls?" He raised his hand hoping that the children would somehow get energized.

"Okay! I'll do it!" A determined brunette haired girl raised her right hand and stood proudly. _With Hotaru's invention, the girls will surely win. _She giggled at the thought of the boys praising her because they underestimated her.

"We volunteer Natsume!" Mochu pushed Natsume, the genius of the class.

"Hey! Volunteering other people! That's illegal!" He glared at Mochu.

"You girls ain't gonna beat guys!" Mochu shouted, ignoring Natsume's protests.

"Natsume? Afraid of me?" Mikan played with the pen Hotaru invented and this made Natsume more pissed. _Over confident brat! A stupid machine can never beat a human's brain!, he thought._

Mikan smirked when she saw Natsume frown.

"Hn." Natsume stood up from his seat. The boys cheered for Natsume.

"Then let's get started. Narumi-sensei, hand us the paper we would answer." Mikan said.

"Hey! The conditions first!" Mr. Narumi reminded them.

"Okay. Let's see." Mikan tapped her chin as she thought of a 'brilliant' idea. "I'll be your all around slave for a month if you beat me." Mikan turned to Natsume.

"No. I want two months." Natsume replied coolly.

"Then make that three! Until graduation!" Mikan said over confidently, reminding herself about the pen Hotaru invented.

"Fine then." Natsume smirked. _You're gonna choke on your own words, polka dots._

"Then you will roam around the school butt naked if I beat you." Mikan mentally congratulated herself for thinking such a great idea. The class stared at her.

_Hey! I'm the one supposed to say my own condition!_ But his mouth greatly disobeyed his mind.

"Sure." Natsume replied again, so ever coolly. _Perverted baka youjo._

"GO Natsume!" The guys cheered.

"Conditions over?" Mr. Narumi asked.

Silence.

"I'll take that as a yes. Since we have our representative's here, kindly go to the blackboard. I'll dictate the question then use the chalk provided." He pushed the two students towards the blackboard and shoved the chalks towards their hands.

Mikan followed dumbly. _Chalk? _She stared at the white piece on her hand.

"Yes, chalk. Means, no pen." Natsume smirked at her, reading exactly what is going on her mind. She swallowed and choked on her own saliva.

_What have I gotten myself into????_

"This is gonna be sooo exciting!" Sumire squealed, completely contradicting what she just said earlier. "Gomen, Natsume-kun, but this time, I'll be supporting Mikan! We wanna see you butt naked!!" She continued to squeal, followed by other high pitched screams of the loyal Natsume-Ruka fans.

_Perverted female Homo sapiens._ Natsume thought and rolled his eyes. Koko smirked as he read Natsume's mind.

"Silence! Here's the question…" Mr. Narumi started.

Mikan stared with wide eyes on the other side of the blackboard, filled with Natsume's witty solution.

_I'm doomed!!!_ Mikan clasped her head with her both hands. As soon as Natsume put a box in his final answer, he tossed the chalk to Mr. Narumi and went back to his seat and rested his feet on the table.

The girls let out an audible sigh when they saw a victorious Natsume. They made a mental note to themselves: _Neve_r _ever let Mikan Sakura be a representative during games. _

Mikan was greatly embarrassed when she noticed that she was just able to make visible tiny dots on the board.

"And the winner is… The gentlemen!!" Mr. Narumi clapped happily while the girls groaned in dismay.

"Woohoo!!!" They playfully slapped Natsume's back but instantly backed away when they saw little fireballs surrounding him.

"That's all for now. You can do what you wish for the rest of the period." Mr. Narumi dismissed them and quickly headed for the door.

"Hotaru, I'm very sorry!" Mikan frantically bowed to every girl in the classroom. She refused to look at Natsume who she knows must be practically laughing his ass now.

"I guess the robot cleaning in my room will finally have three months day off." Natsume said.

"Natsume, isn't that a bit harsh?" Ruka said as he patted his fluffy bunny.

"A bet is a bet. Come on Ruka. Let's go somewhere else." Natsume stood up and waited for Ruka to come up with him.

He opened the door and took one last look inside the classroom, "Polka—I mean rubber duckies, you can start today, immediately after classes," and then a loud bang coming from the door wad heard, indication that he closed it in a rather forceful manner.

Mikan shuddered at the thought. She remembered what happened during the academy's festival years ago when Natsume finished the maze that the special ability type class made and got the lamp with her picture inside as his prize… and you know what happened next … she became his slave and he made her life a living hell. And now, history's gonna repeat itself…

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**A/N: Please feel free to review and tell me what you think! **Is Natsume OOC? Is it too corny? Too lame? Just wait for further happenings and developments between the NxM couple. I promise to make the next chapter longer if you like this first one.

Up next, Mikan, as a slave of Natsume Hyuuga. Questions, comments, suggestions? Please feel free to review and tell me what you think about this story. Please R&R!!!!

_- Liana_


	2. A Day in Hell

**A/N: **I'm back! Here's my second update of The Bet of a Lifetime. Hope you enjoy! A **SPECIAL BIG BIG THANKS** to all those who reviewed the last chapter, **Siti, RiaFan, Sherea, Orange Orange, 'orange-ideas' and  
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**DMPMG – **Thank you for reviewing. I'm still thinking about it. As of now, my ideas are still quite blur and abstract, so I still have to organize it and think about the possible next situations. But it's so nice to see Natsume jealous ne?

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**Chapter 2: A Day in Hell**

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Mikan has been standing on the doorway of Natsume's room right after classes. She has been having second thoughts whether to knock or not. _Should I say 'Welcome, Natsume! You're slave for the next three months is here!' _

Absolutely no.

_Hey wazzup! What would you want me to do?_

What the heck? NO!

She let out a deep sigh and raised her knuckles in front of the door and gathered her remaining pride as she softly knocked on the door.

_Knock knock_

Silence. 

She knocked again.

Silence.

And again.

Silence.

And again.

Silence.

And again.

"What the hell?" She started banging the door and talked to the unmoving wooden door.

"Do you know how much pride I mustered just to go here at your place?" She yelled.

"You still have some pride intact, huh, polka-dots?" A familiar voice rang on her ears.

She looked at the owner of the voice and her eyes became as small as dots (anime-style) as she stared back from the door, to Natsume, then back to the door again and back to Natsume again.

"That's Koko's room you baka." He said unequivocally. He stood beside his door, with a towel wrapped in his lower body and small droplets of water were scattered on his damp hair and chest. He was taking a shower when he heard the most annoying voice of a baka outside banging onto some poor door.

She felt like a complete idiot for the second time of the day. But well, who hasn't become used to it? It has been the same everyday since they were ten. It's always Natsume who has the final word.

"And I bet you were just laughing behind your door huh?" She crossed her arms in front of her and a blush crept on her cheeks when she saw a shirtless Natsume with water droplets all over his hair and torso.

"I was having a nice shower and I finished it before I come out. Koko must be with Hotaru and Yuu. She sent them some errands and also snatched Ruka by blackmailing him." Natsume focused his gaze on Mikan who is having a hard time in keeping her eyes locked with his.

He gave way on the door way for Mikan to come in. "Come on, be my slave."

**Somewhere in the building…**

"Natsume's gonna kill me for this…" A whining Ruka said while taking shots of Natsume in a towel. Hotaru was behind him and giving orders to her loyal sidekicks.

"I'll be killing you first if you refuse to do this." Hotaru replied, still holding her baka gun aimed at Ruka's forehead. "Koko, hand me the videocam." Koko obeyed. "Yuu, food." Yuu handed her the food and she happily munched them.

"I'll still be rich even after graduation." Her eyes turned into dollar signs as she saw the perfect shots taken by Ruka.

"I just wish that your alice must be turned into Moneyfication Alice." Koko whined.

"Is there even such a word?" Yuu voiced out.

"Shut up." She fired her baka gun at the two.

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**Natsume's POV**

The baka has started doing exactly what I said. I was just teasing though but I didn't think that she would take it that seriously. I stole glances at her every now and then, checking if she broke something or threw something that he still needs, knowing that she is a perfect klutz.

"I'm finished." A panting Mikan was frantically screaming at the opening of my ear as she dusted her apron with her two hands.

I didn't look at her, knowing that her face was full of sweat, with eyebrows furrow as if reading to kill me and hands at hips.

**Normal POV **

"I'm finished!" She yelled the second time. He put down his manga and yelled at her.

"Don't deafen me. My eardrums are definitely bursting!" He winced at the loudness of his voice. Mikan's hair at her nape was constantly standing and sending shivers down her spine.

Noticing what he had done, he mentally whacked himself for showing emotions. He immediately plastered his oh-so-famous poker-face.

"How about the laundry?" Natsume said who was wearing cargo pants and a black shirt with a fire printed on it. He was again reading his RPG manga that rested on his lap and refused looking at her.

"Done."

"My bathroom?"

"Finished."

"The kitchen?"

"Done."

"The dishes?"

"Through."

"The bedroom."

"Hai."

"The living room?"

"Yup."

"The windows, the balcony?"

"I finished everything okay?! Even a cockroach would puke because you room is sooo tidied up!" Mikan shouted in exhaustion. _And that is, of course, courtesy of yours truly! _She wanted to slap that on his face. 3 points for Natsume, -10 for Mikan. She didn't think that what's happening today is much, much, worse than what happened years ago.

_Natsume has invisible horns sticking out of his head! He's a devil incarnate!_ She groaned as she held her aching back. A picture of Natsume appeared on her head, with long circular horns on top of head, fire surrounding him, with a pointed, arrow-like-end tail, a very large fork in his right hand and vigorously running behind her and literal smoke steaming out of his nose and ears.

She slumped her body on the couch and closed her eyes. Natsume was nowhere in sight. She glanced at the walk clock hanging in Natsume's room. It was already eight in the evening. _I've been cleaning for that long already? Natsume should be really given the title Frosty man or Ice man or Ice Block or anything that is cold! But that would be an irony since his alice is fire. And fire is obviously hot!_

After a few minutes, Natsume came back with two ramens, one in each hand.

"Here, eat your meal." She was about to refuse, but since she hasn't eaten yet; her stomach grumbled and started slurping the noodles noisily. Deep inside, she was quite happy that Natsume even bothered giving her food.

She smiled unconsciously. The previous picture of Natsume in her mind was replaced by a Natsume surrounded with clouds, light emanating from his back, gigantic white wings that were graciously flapping behind his back matched with a long white robe and golden sash, with a circular thing above his raven locks, giving her a helping hand and smiling sweetly.

_Pig._ Natsume stared at her with empty eyes when he heard her burp loudly. He can't understand why the baka still has the energy to even lift the corners of her mouth after all the exhaustion. She still has that silly grin plastered on her face. She never failed to amuse him but at the same time, it made him annoyed since he cannot smile – and he doesn't deserve to smile.

"You call this a meal?" She said in between chews. He was snapped on his thoughts as soon as she opened her mouth to talk.

"Of course." He replied.

"You are served nice foods in the cafeteria, why settle for some cheap ramen?" She stuffed another mouthful of ramen.

"I can't concentrate in eating, with all those girls staring at me." His tone was dreary and impassive. He took another sip from his ramen and stared at the person in front of him, noticing that she already finished hers minutes ago.

"I'm still hungry." She went to the kitchen and started to browse his fridge and cupboards, looking for something edible. "And by the way," she glanced back at him who was still eating,"you eat so slowly." And she focused back on the cupboards, mumbling something about food.

"I'm not slow; you just eat faster than a starving pig." He said bluntly while eating. She refused to answer since she was too occupied in looking for something to shove into her throat.

"What you did today is what you will be doing for the next three months. You will be staying here in my room attending to my need even in the middle of the night." He crossed his arms and put down his unfinished ramen, not planning to eat it all.

"Hey! That's against human rights!" Mikan said aloud in her most irritating tone that made Natsume wince.

"Hey? You aren't gonna eat that?" She pointed at his ramen. He wondered how she managed to fit that all in her tiny stomach. The rate of her metabolism must be record high. But of course, with all that energetic stunts she would pull everyday, no doubt that all her fats were burned in just a minute, excluding how much calories is burned during smiling.

Sensing that his silence means yes, she went straight in front of his and got the chopsticks he used and ate Natsume's ramen. He suddenly blushed but still remained stoic when he saw the naïve girl use the chopsticks he just used earlier.

_It's like an indirect kiss right?_ An inner smirking voice said.

_Shut up you moron!_ Another part of him yelled.

"But you agreed on the bet right? You were even the one who proposed the brilliant idea." He said to ease the tension building inside him and that silenced Mikan's large mouth.

"Where will I sleep? There is only one bed in your room." the brunette complained.

"On the couch." He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Mikan opened her mouth, about to say something.

"If you're going to argue with me about being a gentleman, shut the crap up. Don't expect me to give you special treatment because you are a female. Have you ever seen a slave sleeping on her master's bed and her master sleeping on the couch?" He firmly stated.

"I'll be sleeping on the bed no matter what!" She plopped herself onto Natsume's bed and sprawled her body over it.

"Then sleep beside me. I know you have a huge crush on me since elementary. But for your information polka-dots, there is no way I'm falling for your trap." He slowly walked towards his bed with an evil glint in his crimson eyes.

"Hey, egotistical jerk! Where did you get that impossible idea? Don't you dare touch me!" Mikan suddenly sat up, her heart beating wildly and would leap out of her chest anytime soon as she saw his piercing glare.

Natsume laughed when he saw her expression. _Natsume? Laughing? _"Dream on, little girl! Get out of my bed and put your ass on the couch, now!" His mood suddenly changed and pointed at the couch.

"No. But still—" She was rudely cut off by Natsume.

"No buts, polka dots. You're going to do whatever I say." He said, giving her a clue that he is ending their conversation. He walked away and headed to his balcony.

"Here." he looked back and tossed Mikan a large, red apple from his pocket. "For your big stomach." She caught it with both hands and watched him leap downwards, obviously heading for the forest and walk away. She didn't bother to follow him and annoy the hell out of him like what she usually does since she was too exhausted to do so.

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Mikan settled herself on Natsume's couch after getting her pillow and blanket in her room. She stared at the dark ceiling and started thinking. 

_Ojii-san, it's been a long time already ne? I'll be graduating from the academy three months for now. You know, I'm now stuck with an idiot here because of a stupid bet. But I am sure I can handle it! Nothing can stop Mikan Sakura! Three months more, ojii-san, please wait for me. _

Mikan was about to doze off when she heard footsteps. She rose up to see who the intruder is and was able to breath calmly when she saw Natsume walking towards his bed. He lazily laid his stomach on it and sensed Mikan staring at him.

"Go back to sleep little girl." He muttered on the pillows. Mikan tried to decipher his words but when she thought of nothing, she tucked herself back again inside her blanket.

Natsume thought of his earlier encounter with Ruka when he went down for his usual night walk.

"_You must think first before you do actions. You might end up on the worst scenario with the Anti-Alice Organization." _

Ruka's voice rang through his head. _Why am I given this alice that I never wanted in the first place? Why can't I be a normal student at Alice Academy? _ He asked himself. Finally after some minutes of thinking, his eyes suddenly gave up and he was dead to the world.

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**A/N:** There ya go! So, what do you think? Question, comments, suggestions are warmly welcomed! An idea popped out of my mind and I am already planning my third GA fic. Lol, I am only on my second chapter and now I'm planning to write another fic! I bet I would have a big problem updating all my fics. I have four ongoing fics as of now TT I think I would just start uploading it as soon as I finish this fic. 

By the way, I tried to put a POV of Natsume here so you could know what's going on in his mind. If you think that normal POV is better, just tell me and I'll settle with the normal POV. But if it is okay, I'll make it longer next time.

_Liana_

**P.S:** Do anyone have suggestion on how to make NatsumexMikan moments/fluff without making him OOC? Is it possible? It's quite hard. I've been trying it in this chapter and my friend said he hasn't even seen the fluff part O.o Am I successful in not making Natsume OOC?


	3. Skipping Classes

**A/N: **Hello! Thanks for all those who read and reviewed the last chapter! Here's the next chappie! Enjoy reading and please review! Sorry it took me a few months to update... Writer's block, writer's block.. Who hasn't experienced that? But here it is. I hope I don't disappoint my readers.

Disclaimer: Don't own Gakuen Alice.

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**Chapter 3: Skipping Classes**

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It has been a week since Natsume has been bossing her around. She is having quite a hard time in time management since she still have to go back to her room and change every morning and always end up to school late. The constant bickering and exchange of words became a part of their daily habit.

Mikan woke up early this time. That's because a certain raven haired young man put his alarm clock at the very opening of her ear. She immediately stood up and quickly gave a flying punch.

She growled at Natsume who easily dodged her attack. He was finished taking a bath and already dressed for school.

_Dammit! It's only six am!_

"Whaddya want?!" She roared.

"Easy there tiger." _Mental note to self, never wake up a drooling Mikan. _"I want my breakfast."

"Breakfast?! Go to the cafeteria and get one." She got her blanket and tucked herself again.

"I told you I don't want to handle those girls again!" Natsume yelled.

"That's none of my business!" She covered her ears with her pillow.

"Who's the slave here? I told you that I can wake you up even in the middle of the night to attend to my needs!" Natsume burned the tip of Mikan's hair when he noticed that she won't budge.

"Kyaaaa!!!" She looked fiercely at Natsume who just smirked in return. "Just tell me that you need a nanny!" She angrily stomped to the bathroom to wash herself up.

"Well a slave is basically worst than a nanny." Natsume whispered to himself.

"Grrrr…" Mikan growled and made giant 'thuds' using her feet. She kept opening and banging the cupboards, nearly removing them out of their hinges.

"Easy there, monster. You'll gonna ruin my suite." Natsume threw Mikan's blanket and pillow onto the floor and settled himself on the couch. "And don't forget to fix up your trash." He pointed to her carelessly thrown pillow and blanket."

"As you wish, your highness, almighty Natsume-sama." She said as she turned back after finding something edible in his fridge. "Here's your breakfast!" She went near him and shoved onto his mouth a celery stick. "May that thing reach down your throat and block the air passage." She said angrily and picked up her blanket and pillow.

She walked towards the door and shut it with a loud bang after she went out. Natsume's eyes followed the polka-dotted panty girl until she disappeared behind the door and chewed the celery stick.

"You call this a breakfast?" He eyed the half eaten celery stick.

At Mikan's bedroom…

"WHAATTTT!!!!!???" It's already 7 am!!!!" She quickly got up from the bed since she slept again when she came to her room. She was having quite a hard time in multitasking and she still needed to go to the cafeteria to get herself her breakfast.

"Oh no!!" She grabbed her back and headed for the cafeteria.

0o-0o-0o-0o-0o-0o

Natsume made his way to the cafeteria and used the backdoor to get inside. He hated being bombarded with his fangirls so he waited for the right time to enter. He hasn't gotten any full meals the last three days. He considered his room as the safest area in the academy. Either he is in the forest alone or in his room, hiding himself from the hideous crowd. He is more willing to waste his money for buying food and stocking up his fridge than to eat his free food at the cafeteria. The girls just won't allow him to swallow a spoonful of food without choking him with their tight hugs. After some time from hiding in his headquarters, his fridge is now empty and he has nothing to eat so he decided to sneak to the cafeteria and have a full meal there.

He even wore a cap to disguise himself and eat peacefully in the cafeteria. He heaved a sigh of relief when he got in safely, without meeting any accidents. He got himself his tray filled with food for a special star and went to a table with his head bent low.

For once, he was able to eat peacefully. He has swallowed his food entirely without being choked to death. After drinking water, he stood up and tuned around to place his tray on the sink.

_KABLAM_

The utensils made a noisy sound as they had a contact with the floor. _Who else would bump on me? _He made a conclusion in his head.

And he was right. _Mikan no baka. Crap she's been doing that for almost seven years already! _He let out an evil smirked when he saw that she was wearing her traditional polka dotted panty again.

"**Natsume-kun!!"**

"**Natsume-koishii!!"**

"**Hyuuga-sama!"**

_Did I ever think that I got in safely? I take that back._

A crowd of girls suddenly ran towards him, stepping on Mikan. Elementary girls, middle school girls, and high school girls flocked around him, only leaving his raising hand visible, silently asking for any help. He cannot use his alice since they were too close to him and he might probably kill them all (including himself) if he tried using it.

Mikan saw all of this and rubbed her back which was an after effect of the attack. _It must be difficult to be so good looking._ She felt sorry for her so-called friend and immediately thought of a very clever solution. She gathered all her remaining oxygen in her body and took and action to rescue Natsume.

"**RUKA-PYON!" **She screamed with all her might and all the girls flocking around Natsume immediately turned to her direction. After a few milliseconds, they ran over Mikan for the second time, stepping over her poor petite body. She gestured Natsume to run away for his dear life.

She managed to get of the crowd and heard the school bell rang. She hasn't even eaten anything yet. _Jin-jin's ears would emit steam again if she came to school late again. _

She walked out of the cafeteria leaving all the girls flocking around each other. She chuckled at her little prank.

She soon found crows pecking on each girl's hair and she saw right in the middle, "Ruka?" _he was really there! Gomen ne, Ruka-pyon! _She muttered silently. Besides she didn't even know that Ruka was really in the cafeteria that time. _I guess I was not paying attention._

_Hey? Ruka-pyon and Hotaru why are they here? _Her eyes snapped back towards the direction of Hotaru and Ruka. _Why are they late too? _

"Idiot, look what you did to Ruka." Mikan nearly jumped out of fright when she saw Natsume leaning outside the cafeteria, his hands tucked in both of his pockets.

"I didn't mean it. I didn't know he was there!" The idiot defended.

"It's okay. Leave it to Imai." He pointed at Hotaru who was shooting her baka gun to the girls who was blocking their way.

0o-0o-0o-0o-0o

"I'm already late!" Mikan whined as the both of them walked towards nowhere. She kept on sighing every minute, no, every ten seconds. They soon found themselves sitting at the opposite sides of a sakura tree.

"I'm already late!" She whined again. Natsume arched a fine eyebrow, annoyed with the baka.

"So am I. If you hadn't bumped on me earlier, I would have made it on time." Natsume lay on his back with his hands behind his head. He never really wanted to go inside the classroom, since Jinno-sensei's period will just be finished by his unending words of discipline.

"Are you saying it's my fault?" Mikan replied with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Obviously." Natsume replied coolly.

"I don't wanna come to the classroom. I'll never hear the end of Jin-jin's sermon again." She said.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Idiot" Natsume said out of nowhere. "I need you to do something for me." He got up from his former position.

"What now?" Mikan responded, folding her knees towards her chest.

"…" Natsume went to her side of the tree and grabbed her wrist. _You're heavy dammit! _He pulled her up so she could stand on her full height. Still grabbing her wrist, he ran.

"Wait! Where are we going?" Mikan didn't resist but he was too fast with his long stride.

"To the Central Town." He answered back.

"We're going to ditch classes?" Mikan stared at him.

"…"

_Right. He won't mind since he has ditched classes hundreds of times ago. _

0o-0o-0o-0o-0o

Meanwhile…

"Hotaru! We're super late already!" Ruka complained behind the bushes.

"Quit whining will ya!" Hotaru shot her baka gun to Ruka's forehead.

"Where are they?" Ruka didn't see them in their previous location. Hotaru checked the baka transmitter to know Mikan's location.

"To the Central Town!" She stood up and dragged a swirly eyed Ruka.

"We're going to ditch classes?" Ruka tried maintaining his balance as the shorter girl dragged him.

"Obviously." She said sarcastically. "I'll not waste a day with Jinno if I can be rich in ditching class."

"He's gonna kill us!" Ruka moaned.

0o-0o-0o-0o-0o

Central Town with Natsume and Mikan :P

Mikan went out of the third store with large bags on hand. Natsume bought everything he need and lots, lots of food. He swore to himself that he'll never step on the cafeteria grounds again.

Mikan tried to balance the heavy bags on each hand. Sweat poured from her forehead while Natsume was walking in front of her, hands tucked inside his pocket.

"Walk faster!" His eyebrows furrow when he saw her walking wobbly on her both legs.

"Can't you just lend me a hand here so I can move faster?" Mikan put the bags down and put her hands on her hips. They stood there for some minutes and seeing that she won't budge, he quickly approached her and took two of the four bags. She happily got the other two and walked side by side to him.

She eyed her grumbling stomach and whispered, "Just wait there okay?" She almost forgot that she hasn't eaten her breakfast yet and it was almost one o'clock in the afternoon. She eyed every food store in the Central Town and was practically drooling over an ice cream. And for the umpteenth time while they were on the Central Town, she won't budge while staring at the cool delight.

"You want that?" Natsume pointed at the ice cream, seeing that she was staring at the little kids with enormous amounts of ice cream in both hands. He managed to keep his voice flat even thought he was thoroughly annoyed that his slave was freeloading.

"Yes! I haven't eaten anything since this morning!" Mikan replied eagerly.

"And your just gonna eat ice cream?" Natsume said going towards the direction of the ice cream parlor. _If I won't feed her, she won't have enough energy being my slave._

"Hai!" she hopped happily as she followed Natsume.

They quickly walked inside the ice cream parlor and occupied a table inside. Natsume stood up and ordered for both of them.

He walked back to their table and settled himself with a vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips and hot fudge while he ordered Mikan her favorite flavor, strawberry-vanilla with a twist of green tea and lemon, garnished with lots of sprinkles, cheese, marshmallows, and nuts, with hot fudge and caramel-bubblegum syrup.

"Wow!" Mikan said as she happily eyed the sweet dessert while Natsume ogled the puke-like colored ice cream with disgust. _She doesn't experience any stomach trouble with that? _He almost forgot that she has an iron stomach and can almost eat anything.

She scooped a spoonful of her ice cream and stuffed it on her mouth. She let her tongue played with the marshmallows and sprinkles and she savored the different flavors inside her mouth.

Natsume did the same with his ice cream and was jumping like a kid inwardly as he ate his favorite flavor of ice cream. But of course, he didn't show any expression at all.

**At the other side of the ice cream parlor…**

"Camera! Camera!" Hotaru, wearing shades and hiding behind a ridiculously large newspaper with two holes that allow her to look at Mikan and Natsume, nudged a busily eating Ruka.

"Hai!" He mockingly saluted and handed Hotaru her camera. He went back to eating after he heard Hotaru clicking her camera away.

She smiled and dollar signs appeared on each of her eye when she captured a perfect shot of Natsume eating an ice cream, another one with a hot fudge stain on a corner of his lips, and lastly, the one where he licked the stain on the corner of his mouth with his tongue. "His fangirls would drool over this cute picture on Natsume." The picture also included Mikan who was having that cheery grin while eating opposite Natsume. Knowing Hotaru, she won't mind if her friend would get killed by Natsume's fangirls.

_Natsume? Cute? _Ruka stopped stuffing ice cream in his mouth and looked at the dollar-eyed Hotaru. Then he looked at his best friend who was seated a few tables away and heaved a sigh of defeat.

0o-0o-0o-0o-0o-0o

Natsume impatiently waited for the girl eating in front of him. She is now halfway in her third large bowl of her yucky flavored ice cream. She kept on licking her spoon clean.

_That's it! _

He irritatingly stood up and Mikan look up at his tall form.

"Where are you going?" She asked at the raven-haired young man, her mouth full of ice cream.

"None of your business." He said walking away. She hurriedly stood up and stuffed her mouth with ice cream.

"Wait! Don't go yet!" She said in between mouthfuls. He looked at her form. She was like a child being left in the downtown area by her mom.

"Stay there. I'll be back." He said and it calmed her nerves down. Mikan sat down again and heard the chimes on the door clinging, signaling that he just walked out.

She went back eating her beloved ice cream and…

"ACKK!!" She felt someone behind her and touched her shoulders. She jerked forward because of shock. It caused the spoon and bowl she was holding to fall, leaving trails of melted ice cream on her school skirt, on the table and on the floor.

Meanwhile, the person behind Mikan recognized Hotaru behind those shades and newspaper. Even Ruka was recognized too and the person gave Ruka and Hotaru an evil smirk.

0o-0o-0o-0o-0o

Natsume went inside the ice cream shop and looked at the spot where he and Mikan had occupied earlier. He blinked again when he saw no one sitting on the chair.

_What the heck!? Is she that dumb? I told her to wait for me here! She doesn't even follow simple orders!_

His eyes searched for the brunette and found no one. He walked towards the table and saw the dirty trail of melted ice cream all over the table, the chair and the floor. The groceries were still there on the empty chair beside the chair that Mikan occupied earlier.

_What the heck!? _He cursed the second time. He was having lots of maybes and what ifs in his mind.

He was about to turn around to look for the idiot when he felt someone behind him and darkness enveloped his vision.

--

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**A/N: **There! It's a cliffhanger! Can you guess what'll happen next? Gimme your comments about this chapter and I'll try my best to improve on the next chappie. Kya, my fingers hurts for hitting the keyboard for quite some time already because I've been trying to upload my fics. I had a pretty hard time in editing other's fics and my fics too, for rereading lots of chapters, and for thinking about the next chapter. (Sigh) Please forgive me for the wrong grammars.

Please review so all my pain and burden would lighten up, because simple words from you would do so much in brightening my spirit! Thank you!

_-Liana _


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